Harold Halibut is a unique handmade stop-motion animated game that follows a group of colonists who escaped earth during the Cold War, only to become trapped in a retro futuristic city-sized spaceship crashed under an alien sea. Originally revealed in 2017 with a 2019 release date, the game was delayed and fell off the radar. While the developers have quietly provided a few development updates over the years on the official Harold Halibut Twitter, the team at Slow Bros. finally released a new story trailer, offering our first lengthy look at Harold Halibut in over three years.
Harold Halibut is entirely handmade using real models for the characters, sets, and objects that are all scanned in to provide the games unique stop-motion animation style. Though it’s nearly five years old at this point, you can get a look at some of the behind-the-scenes processes in the making-of video below:
Publisher Curve Digital was initially attached to the project when it was revealed, though it doesn’t appear that’s still the case. Whether Slow Bros’ will self-publish or find another publisher to help them get Harold Halibut over the finish line remains to be seen.
Scanning real objects into games is a technique that’s been used a few times before, both by big AAA productions and indie developers. Infinity Ward used photogrammetry to scan real objects and people in for Modern Warfare development, while 2014’s indie puzzle darling The Swapper was built using real items and found objects, giving it that uncanny stop-motion look.
The new story trailer says Harold Halibut is coming “soonish,” and the press site lists 2021 as the release date (though that’s always subject to change). It’s coming to PC, PS4, and Xbox One, with the ability to play on next-gen consoles via backwards compatibility. Harold Halibut may have been submerged in an alien sea for the past few years, but we’re glad to see this unique title resurfacing.